


Time

by SydAce



Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Angst, Anxiety, Anxiety Attacks, Comfort, Fluff, Gen, Mutual Pining, Pining, Slow Burn, Time Anxiety
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-04
Updated: 2019-08-04
Packaged: 2020-07-30 22:17:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20104489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SydAce/pseuds/SydAce
Summary: Time is something that you always keep a close eye on. You eventually persuade the Dowling family to hire a nanny to make sure their schedule runs more smoothly.





	Time

Time. It was something you were great at managing because it was one of your top triggers for anxiety. If someone needed to figure out just how much time you needed to get from point A to point B, they’d come to you. In return, you’d give the estimated time it’d take, how much time it’d take if there was an accident or any other number of scenarios that could pop up. That’s why you were the official manager of the Dowling family. You managed all of their schedules and ensured that everything ran smoothly as they had to go from one location to the next.

Though, one thing you weren’t expecting was how chaotic a new baby would be. It threw everything off in your schedule. The baby was simply unpredictable. It didn’t help that neither of the parents were all too invested in ensuring that they were efficient in caring for young Warlock. No, they saw it fit to dilly-dally around. At least, that was the case for Mister Dowling. He made no real effort in taking care of his son. It wasn’t long before you had persuaded the family in hiring a nanny to better care for the child in a more efficient manner.

Almost all of the candidates were either late or exactly on time. If they weren’t at least ten minutes early, they received a negative score on your part. You couldn’t rely on someone that was only on time. After all, if you’re early, you’re on time. If you’re on time, you’re late. And if you’re late, you’re forgotten.

Though, there was one candidate for the nanny position that showed up twenty-three minutes and forty seconds early. You were amazed at how efficiently she managed to pull out her resume, references, and letters of recommendation. It appeared she had them all ready in her hands as if she was expecting to hand them off at the beginning of the interview. She even had multiple copies prepared. This excited you.

It took you exactly two minutes and thirty-four seconds to make it from the entrance of the Dowling’s estate to where the interviews were being conducted in the upstairs study. Mister and Missus Dowling were already there with young Warlock. Once you entered, you stepped to the side of the room to allow the candidate to enter.

“This is Ms. Ashtoreth,” you introduced the candidate. She walked over and firmly shook hands with the two Americans. You sat in the corner of the room for the duration of the interview while keeping a firm eye on the clock. Each interview was allotted fifteen minutes. Not a second more. For the candidates that were late, their interview times were shortened. If they were more than fifteen minutes late, they were simply turned away with the door slamming in their face.

You listened in on Ms. Ashtoreth’s answers to the questions that the Dowling had prepared. She was certified in CPR and first-aid, a plus in your books. One couldn’t be too prepared when dealing with a child. She had years of experience working with children. She also made an excellent private tutor according to her letters of recommendation. Honestly, she seemed like the perfect candidate for the nanny position. A tad odd, yes. But you could look over eccentricities.

You took a moment to stand to notify the Dowling family that they needed to wrap up the interview. They had exactly one minute and forty-five seconds left. Both of them looked at one another before grinning widely.

“I believe that we would like to offer you the position of the nanny, Ms. Ashtoreth,” Mister Dowling announced.

Ms. Ashtoreth didn’t look all too surprised, especially with the knowing smile she gave them. “That is wonderful news. I will make sure to provide the utmost care for young Warlock.”

“I will cancel the pending interviews,” you spoke towards the married couple. Then, you turned your attention towards Nanny Ashtoreth. “I look forward to working with you. Please excuse me.”

Now it was time for the gardener interviews with the lead housekeepers.

\--

It was amazing how prompt Nanny Ashtoreth was. She was always on time and made sure that young Warlock was taken care of. Even when something unexpected happened, she made it work far better than anyone else you’ve ever worked with. It had gotten to the point where you were seriously considering not having extra time put into the schedules you created because of her. Still, your anxiety screamed at you to keep those extra bits of time in there, just in case.

It was a good thing you listened to your anxiety, too. Mister and Missus Dowling had gotten into a fight. Missus Dowling was angry that her husband was spending more time at work than usual. He was almost never home. According to your schedules, he was at home for a total of nine hours. Just enough to eat dinner and go to bed. The fight had gotten nasty and had resulted in you being late to help set up for a campaign event Mister Dowling had to host that very evening.

You were sprinting through the Dowling estate just to get to where you needed to be. Taking a moment, you glanced at the watch on your wrist and grimaced. You had nine minutes to make it to the setup. You were late.

Bursting through the doors, you looked around. The only people there were a couple of workers moving in some of the heavier sound equipment and Nanny Ashtoreth holding a three-year-old Warlock.

“[Y/N], you look winded,” Nanny Ashtoreth noted. You nodded your head while gasping for breath. “Did you sprint all the way here?” You nodded your head once more and held up your wrist with your watch. “I do believe you are still early. Warlock and I just arrived moments ago to help with the setup.”

“Good,” you breathed out. “Thank you. I appreciate your help. It’s a benefit for a children’s hospital, so Warlock can help with decorating.” You stumbled over towards the side of the room and slid a backpack off of you. Kneeling down, you dug out some markers. There was already a roll of butcher paper in the room waiting for Warlock to color.

Nanny Ashtoreth glanced at Warlock with a sly smirk. “How would you like to help with decorating? I think red would be a fine color.” She whispered something to the child that you could have sworn sounded like blood.

“And the flowers go in this here room!” Standing up, you walked over to take note of everything the gardener Francis was bringing in. He ambled over towards Warlock who had already started coloring on the paper. “Whatcha doing there, Master Warlock?” he asked and leaned down to look. “Oh, I like your drawing there! You should draw some nice flowers and animals all happy together!”

You shook your head at the odd man before directing where everything needed to go for that event. As you were glancing at your watch to make sure everything was on schedule, a hand was gently placed on your shoulder. You jumped and saw Nanny Ashtoreth next to you.

“You should relax, dear,” she chided. “Everything is working out just perfectly.”

There was something about her that calmed you down. Though, most people would disagree and say she stressed them out. Still, she was always there to iron out the wrinkles your anxiety brought you.

“Thank you,” you smiled weakly at her. “Though, I think I’ll relax once this event is over. Don’t tell him I said this, but I really wish Mister Dowling would stop throwing these last-minute events just to impress his boss.”

Nanny Ashtoreth chuckled lightly and she held a finger up to her lips. “It’ll be our little secret.”

The tables were being carried out to the grand hall. They already had table cloths on them. The caterers were placing silverware and napkins on them. The actual drinks and plates of food would be brought out through waiters from a preselected menu. Of course, there would be extras of each entre in the event a guest is not happy with the food they had ordered. They’d claim they picked the vegetarian option when their RSVP clearly showed that they ordered the steak.

Then, Francis was working on getting the centerpieces on the tables. You specifically asked that they weren’t too tall where guests wouldn’t be able to see each through the centerpieces. He came through and put together wreaths of ivory color larkspur, myrtle, and baby’s breath on a weaved grapevine base. In the center of each wreath was a triad of picture frames put together with a tealight candle in the center. Pictures of children benefiting from the event were illuminated beautifully due to the tealight. Francis also went an extra mile and draped fairy lights along the outer portion of the centerpieces.

Once all of the tables were set up, you glanced at your watch. Amazingly, you were exactly twenty-five minutes ahead of schedule. Perhaps Nanny Ashtoreth’s glaring presence made all of the workers move a little faster.

Though, the scary part was just beginning. Workers were draping bits of tulle and fairy lights from the top of the stage to the side. It was the part that could have the most accidents occur if the tulle were to rip or the fairy lights become tangled. Due to some miracle, neither happened. Nanny Ashtoreth was standing nearby with a smirk on her face as Warlock continued to color.

You glanced at your watch and bit your lip. More kids were supposed to be here already to help Warlock color. Their colored paper would be the backdrop for the stage where the banner of the hospital wasn’t taking up space. The rapid sound of tapping emanated from your foot.

Nanny Ashtoreth approached you once again. She placed a hand on your arm and guided you towards Warlock. “Now, [Y/N]. Nothing good will happen if you keep stressing yourself out. Why don’t you help Warlock color?”

“But the children are supposed to be the ones doing it,” you protested.

Nanny Ashtoreth smirked. “If you use your non-dominant hand no one will know any better.”

You blinked. Oh. Ooh. With a small smile, you nodded and knelt down with Warlock. You grabbed your favorite color of marker and started to draw. It looked shaky and uncoordinated, but so did Warlock’s drawings. Nanny Ashtoreth looked pleased with herself until Francis walked by chuckling. She scowled at him and you could have sworn the blush on her cheeks grew darker.

\--

“[Y/N], could I ask you a question?” a now eight-year-old Warlock asked you. Fortunately, your schedule was rather free so you nodded your head while looking down at him. “What do you think about love?”

This was an odd question, especially for so early in the morning. “It’s uh…Nice? It depends on the type of love and who it’s with. Sometimes, it can cause you to get hurt. Other times, it’s a very magical thing. Why are you asking?”

“I’ve heard different things from Nanny and Brother Francis.” That didn’t surprise you. Those two always seemed to have the opposite opinions on things. “Brother Francis said that I should love everything the Earth has to offer. He seems to love everything.”

“Okay.” You weren’t sure where he was going.

“But Nanny says I shouldn’t waste my time with something silly like love. She said love is stupid.” You frowned and glanced at where Nanny was preparing some lesson to teach Warlock. “But she seems to love someone.”

“Oh?” you raised an eyebrow at the child.

“Yeah, she loves you!” Warlock said with a shit-eating grin.

Immediately, you felt a heat rise on your face. You coughed into the crook of your elbow and shook your head. “I-I don’t think so, Warlock.”

“Yes, she does!” Warlock argued. “Brother Francis said so!”

“What?” you squeaked and frantically looked over towards Ashtoreth and to Warlock, making sure she wasn’t hearing anything that was going on. “I think Brother Francis is lying to you.”

“But Brother Francis said that lying is bad!”

“Nanny!” Warlock called, sending you spiraling into a fit of panic. Ashtoreth looked over and the sound of her heels clicked on the floor while approaching the pair of you.

“Yes, Warlock?” she asked. She glanced at you. “Are you alright, [Y/N]?”

“N-no,” you managed to breathe out. “I-I need to go!”

“But we need to see if Nanny loves you!” Warlock protested.

“Bye!” you yelled and swiftly ran out of the room with your face redder than Ashtoreth’s hair.

Somehow, you found yourself outside. It seemed as though your legs carried you there without you realizing it in your fit of anxiety. Taking a deep breath, you plopped yourself down onto some steps. With either the best or the worst timing, someone sat next to you.

“You alright there, [Y/N]?” You glanced over and saw Francis giving you a concerned look.

“Mmhmm,” you hummed and rested your head in your hands.

“You look awfully red there.”

You groaned. “Warlock was just being a kid.”

Francis chuckled. “What did that little rascal do now?”

With a sigh, you lifted your head to look at the friendly gardener. “He told me that Ashtoreth loved me. I tried to tell him that she didn’t, but then he called her over. And well…” You groaned in frustration and flopped over so you were laying on your back and looked up at the clouds passing over.

Francis gave a hearty laugh. “Warlock wasn’t wrong, [Y/N]. She does love you.”

“Not you too!” you squealed.

“Did you stay long enough to see how she reacted?” Francis inquired.

“No, I ran out here.”

“And why was that?” Francis gave a small smile at you. You grumbled to yourself and glared at the clouds. “What was that, my dear?”

“Because I was afraid that she would say no,” you finally said. Your face was a shade of scarlet once more as you basically admitted to having feelings for the odd nanny.

“You should talk to her,” Francis encouraged.

You shook your head and sat up. “No. I don’t think that’d be a good idea.” After all, you were always a nervous wreck. Why would she love you?

\--

You felt your heart break. Missus Dowling had just informed you that Ashtoreth had resigned as being nanny, effective immediately. You wanted to cry and scream. She didn’t even tell you goodbye. Francis had at least told you goodbye. He told you he would miss you and gave you a hug. But Ashtoreth had just left without a trace.

The park was fine. It had poorly modeled dinosaurs that were lazy reptiles dragging their tails. You supposed that at the time that’s what people thought they looked like. But those people were stupid enough to break the fossils just to fit their preconceived notions.

For a moment, you felt someone’s stare on your back. You glanced around the park until your eyes landed on a man. Your heart skipped a beat when you first saw his sunglasses. They reminded you of Ashtoreth’s. But you quickly realized that he wasn’t her. Biting your lip, you looked away. One of your hands raised to your eyes to wipe away a stray tear. You didn’t have time to cry. You had to make sure everything was planned for Warlock’s eleventh birthday party.

\--

The magician was dreadful. The children were all getting antsy. You kept glancing at your watch wondering when the next activity would take place. It seemed to you like it should be only a few minutes, but only twenty-five seconds had passed by since you last checked your watch.

A waiter passed by and offered you a drink. “Something to calm your nerves?”

That voice sounded so familiar. You glanced over with hope but frowned as you saw a man wearing a white suit and dark sunglasses. You shook your head and excused yourself from the party. This was starting to become too much. You were honestly wondering if you’d still be able to keep on working at the Dowling estate.

Finally, you broke down crying. They were damned. They could be late. You needed this time to cry.

The same waiter from before slowly approached you. He wordlessly offered you a napkin to dab your eyes with. He sat next to you, but not before checking his watch. The man waited for you to finish crying patiently.

“Thank you,” you sniffled and sat the napkin to the side.

He nodded. “What has you upset?”

You looked down at your hands and sighed. “Someone…someone I loved left without saying goodbye. I don’t even know if I’ll see them again.”

The man looked at you with shock. He frowned and looked away before taking a deep breath. “I hope that you’ll see them again.”

You nodded your head. “Me too.”

\--

It was the Monday after Warlock’s birthday party that ended in a huge food fight. Warlock’s parents weren’t happy, but they didn’t have time to stay angry with him when they had to go to the Middle East for some strange reason. You weren’t sure why they went. You ended up staying behind due to a conflict in air travel. For some reason, the US government couldn’t book you a plane ticket. It made no sense.

Now, you were waiting at the Dowling estate for their return. You still had a few hours, but you wanted to make sure everything was done that needed to be done. But then the bell to the estate rang. Quickly, you hurried down the halls until you made it to the front door. When you opened it, you looked up at the waiter from Warlock’s party standing there.

He was wearing a black suit this time. Black seemed to fit him better than white did. Still, he wore those same sunglasses that were all too similar to Ashtoreth’s. Though, the most peculiar thing was the flowers in his arms. They were your favorite flowers. Only Francis, Ashtoreth, and Warlock knew what your favorite flowers were.

“May I help you?” you asked expectedly.

The man stiffened up ever so slightly and suddenly looked nervous. “These are for you.” He held out the flowers.

“Oh, um, thank you?”

“I’m sorry I never said goodbye.”

You blinked at him as the pieces started to slowly come together. “What…What do you mean?”

“I was afraid to tell you goodbye,” he said. “Warlock was right when he said I love you.”

“Are…Are you…” you were starting to panic as you gazed up at the man. Though, you weren’t sure why you were panicking.

“Breathe, [Y/N],” the man said and guided you towards the steps just outside the front door so you could sit. “It’s alright.”

“You’re,” you gasped through some tears. “You’re Ashtoreth?”

“Yes.” The man held you as you leaned into him sobbing. You clutched onto his blazer afraid that he would disappear if you let go. “I have a lot to explain, I know.”

“Yes. Yes, you do!” you cried. If he didn’t remind you so much Ashtoreth, if he didn’t have the same calming vibe, the same sort of sunglasses, if he didn’t have those flowers, you wouldn’t believe that he was her. But you didn’t doubt for a second that this was Ashtoreth.

The man ran his hand through your hair. “My real name is Crowley. I had to become Warlock’s nanny because…Well, because I thought he was the antichrist.”

Your sobs silenced and you pulled away with a frown. “What?”

Crowley sighed and looked away. “I was wrong.”

“Why would you think he was the antichrist?” You were more confused than ever.

“Do you trust me?” Crowley looked at you with a desperate look. Without hesitating, you nodded your head. You loved Ashtoreth, you loved him. Slowly, Crowley moved a hand up to his sunglasses and removed them. Though, his eyes were closed. “Please don’t be afraid,” he pleaded and then fluttered his eyes opened.

The breath in your lungs hitched. His eyes were serpentine and more yellow than the sun. He looked terrified at what your reaction would be. For a moment, you were scared, but that soon was replaced. Everything clicked together.

“You’re a demon,” you said simply. He nodded his head. “Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Mmhmm,” you nodded your head. “I’m not afraid. I trust you.” Then, you realized that you had basically admitted to him that you loved him. “I-I still love you.” Your nerves flared up. Now you were afraid.

Crowley smiled at you. He placed a hand on the back of your head and leaned his own in. Quickly, he pressed his lips against yours. He poured years of pinning into it. Years of him watching you and making sure things didn’t turn out to be too stressful. Making sure that you wouldn’t end up in the Middle East with Hastur. You returned it with just as much passion.

“I love you, too,” Crowley whispered once he pulled away. “For so long, I’ve loved you.” He placed a kiss on your forehead and moved the hand on the back of your head down towards your waist. “Run away with me?”

You laughed lightly. “Where to?”

“London.” He placed a kiss on your cheek. “I have a flat.” Another kiss on your nose. “We could just stay together for all time.” He placed a gentle peck on your lips. “What do you say?”

“I say that sounds nice.”


End file.
